she gave me a message to share.” Vinya waited until we sat before addressing the table. “The dean has gone out on her own to try and find the location on the island where the other fountain is. She will report back what she finds.”
“On her own?” Vaughn offered. “Shouldn’t she have taken some of us with her? Why Tyler? Who even is that guy?”
“Alonzo trusted him so the dean trusts him. Besides she wanted to do this quietly, no need to let the Habermanns know that we might be onto them. The dean is a very talented witch. Some say the most talented alive. She will be fine.” Vinya sighed as if she didn’t want to be saying any of those things, but was following her superior’s orders.
“In the meantime,” Vinya continued, “the twins have something to show us.”
The very pale twins glanced at one another before one of them drew Karen’s strange helmet from under the table, clutching it as he spoke. It was the first time I’d heard either one of their voices. It was soft and melodic. “We think we know how this works now. We have reprogrammed it, and we’d like you to try it on the one you brought in.” His pale gray eyes drifted up to me.
I stared at him, not quite sure I understood. “You want me to use that,” I pointed at the helmet, “on Daniella?”
The twins nodded in unison.
“No. I can’t do that to her. I’m not going to control her.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I made it very clear this was not happening.
I expected Vaughn to back me up, but he gently set both hands on the table. “Tally, I think you should reconsider.”
“What?” My heart pounded as my anger at this idea turned to Vaughn. “You want me to manipulate my friend? The one we just saved? The one I just told I would help no matter what?”
Vaughn didn’t look at me but continued to speak in hushed tones as if that could placate me. “You would be helping her. Defeating the Habermanns will help her and everyone. Think of all the people still inside. Think of the children we know are in those jails right now.”
I swallowed over the lump in my throat as his words settled in. He was using my love for children as a ploy to get me to agree with him, and I didn’t like it one bit. I didn’t like any of this one bit.
It was Vinya’s turn to try to persuade me. “Tally, if we can turn all their creatures against them, think how quickly we could take the Habermanns down.”
“They aren’t creatures. They are my friends, my family.” I stood up, clutching the table. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”
My eyes searched the table, looking for a friendly face, but found none. Even Vaughn.
“We’re trying to save them, but we’re vastly outnumbered,” he said. “This may be the only way.”
“There has to be another way because I’m not doing it. Now, do we have any information on my cousin?”
Vinya sadly shook her head. “Nothing yet.”
“Perfect.” Anger flooding through my veins like poison, I turned and stalked out of the room, except there was no place to hide on this tiny ship, nowhere to run. Finding myself wandering as far from the meeting room as possible, I stumbled upon a small row of portholes with my aunt hunkered over one of them.
She tilted her long neck in my direction. “Tallyndra, you are upset.”
It was a statement, not a question.
I shrugged, wanting to change the subject. “What’s happening down there?” I peered into the little porthole next to the one my aunt’s, yet I saw nothing but clouds.
“The humans have upset you. It isn’t surprising. They will continue to do that.” Her tone allowed for no argument as she put her hands on her hips and stared down at me.
She sounded like Bael with his “stick to your own kind” mantra.
I bristled at her words. “They’re trying to do their best.”
And now I was defending them when just moments ago I wanted to punch a hole in the wall for what they’d asked me to do. Yet, I didn’t like my aunt’s tone, which seemed to suggest humans were all bad, and I should have expected nothing less.
She dismissed my comment with a wave of her hand. Turning back to the window, she gazed down at the clouds as if she could see more than the rest of us.
“Yes, the